Chapter 1018: Peaceful Unification, The Final Trial

This time, the new round did not take place in the magnificent hall from before, but had shifted to a garden courtyard, where a kind-looking Elf Elder was introducing a guest to Xia Duo—

An Advanced Rank Mage from the Laisi Kingdom.

Of course, this person also held another identity: the former foreign affairs consultant to the Coronal of Laisi. This visit to the Taier Kingdom was made as a Special Envoy of the Coronal, at the invitation of the Grand Elder of the Elf Court.

Xia Duo used his Perception to scan the surrounding environment and quickly grasped the situation at hand. This former foreign affairs consultant from a neighboring kingdom visiting the Elf Court was not entirely in response to the Elder's invitation; more importantly, it was to ascertain the thoughts of the Coronal of Taier—which is to say, his own thoughts.

Soon, the introductions were complete, but Xia Duo discovered that time in this garden seemed to have frozen; except for him, all the other Elves were motionless.

"Thinking time?"

Xia Duo was thoughtful, but in reality, only an instant had passed since he issued his command. He was perfectly clear on his thoughts at the time, and after a moment of reflection, he said to this Special Envoy of the Coronal of Laisi:

"The relationship between Taier and Laisi is long-standing. Today, the Tai'kuise Clan is facing trials on many fronts, whether it be the increasingly complex situation in the Northland, or the Drow army that might burst out from the Surface at any moment to unleash another feast of slaughter,

"Or perhaps the gradually declining magical civilization, all of which urge us to unite and respond to future challenges as a more cohesive whole.

"Taier is currently walking on the right path; why shouldn't the Laisi Kingdom follow the trend of history and forge a beautiful future together?"

After a pause, Xia Duo added: "As for the interests of the various families within the Laisi Kingdom, I guarantee in the name of the Akarama Family that they will certainly be continued within the new nation."

After speaking, he realized that this meeting seemed to be one round per statement; he needed to take the initiative to end the round before the simulation would continue and a new round would begin.

After ending the round, the Laisi envoy spoke, his tone deep and his attitude firm, "Coronal Akarama, I believe every word you say is true, but Laisi has its own traditions. Please allow us to refuse. This is not only the will of our King, but also the will of the majority of Laisi Elves."

To this, Xia Duo smiled slightly; he had long known that the Laisi Kingdom in the trial corresponded to the Akaola Kingdom in the outside world.

The Akaola in the Projection Plane had rejected the invitations of Jielunsita and other forces, not wanting to become part of the emerging Keman.

And in the Main Plane, a thousand years later, in the era where Xia Duo resided, Akaola had already sealed off the Listar Forest (the northwestern part after the destruction of Uweilun) with a Mythallar, refusing entry to any outsiders (Elves).

Thus, in this trial, there would surely be a manifestation of this, though the fact that this Laisi envoy was so firm and so direct in his refusal still caught Xia Duo somewhat by surprise.

He had expected the other party to say some polite pleasantries!

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo said: "Although a fusion of political entities is temporarily unfeasible, you and I both share the Listar Forest. We can still have many common topics regarding the war against the Drow and civilian exchanges.

"I have now called a halt to the expansion of Taier's people in the northwest direction. I intend to establish several trade cities on the border between our two countries, where both sides can complement each other's resources and share in the gains. What is your opinion on this?"

This proposal was actually very difficult for the Laisi Kingdom to refuse, whether it was the Akaola of the Projection Plane or the Akaola of the Main Plane; their maximum territory was only a small portion of the original northwest corner of the Listar Forest.

And this was not the most important thing; the most important thing was that there was not much room for expansion around Akaola, while Keman, after merging with Jielunsita and other forces, legally held the vast majority of the remaining area of the Listar Forest under its rule.

The theoretical territory of the two differed by six or seven times.

Xia Duo did not know what the Coronal of Keman in the history of the Main Plane had done, but he preferred to use the methods of a True King to obtain legitimate rule over the Laisi Kingdom.

Through continuous exchange and cooperation, assimilating the other side culturally and dominating them economically, coupled with his own powerful military capabilities, how could the Laisi Elves not submit?

In reality, within Elf society, the Coronal did not have absolute authority; to a large extent, as long as the various major families reached a consensus, the Coronal had no choice but to comply.

When it came down to it, the Coronal was merely a representative of one of the stronger families, and not necessarily the strongest one at that—though it was very possible they were the most prestigious and credible.

Sure enough, after Xia Duo finished, the scene jumped back to the magnificent hall from the beginning, and the Consultants fed back the results of the simulation after the previous round ended—

"The two countries signed a framework agreement for deepening exchanges, covering border trade, civilian exchanges, resource development, combating Orcs, tracking Drow, and other aspects."

With a good start, the subsequent matters fell into place naturally.

The Advanced Rank Mages behind the trial did not throw any sudden events at Xia Duo, such as subordinates suddenly rebelling or disasters falling from the sky; the vast majority of the follow-ups were predicated on his own actions.

This also meant that as long as one considered things thoroughly (covering the imagination of the Mages behind the trial), everything was basically under control.

Soon, in the simulation, the Laisi Kingdom's reliance on the Taier Kingdom grew stronger and stronger, not only becoming increasingly integrated into the Taier system economically, but culturally as well.

Often, whatever was popular in the Taier capital would soon appear in the Laisi capital, and the voices among the people for joining Taier or forming a United Kingdom grew louder and louder.

This situation continued until a Laisi Elf who had studied at the Advanced Rank Magic Academy in the Taier capital returned home as an Advanced Rank Mage.

This directly shattered the psychological defenses of the few power-holders within Laisi. They could not win in battle, and dragging it out would only be a slow death; rather than losing the hearts of the people in the end, it was better to end it early.

In any case, by joining the Taier Kingdom, their own interests would not suffer much loss, and might even increase additionally.

Just like that, the Laisi Kingdom merged into the Taier Kingdom with almost no waves. In the end, Xia Duo named the unified country the Laisita'er Kingdom, which corresponded exactly to "Keman".

"Laier, your performance has surprised us greatly. I now somewhat believe that you are the True King of Keman from the prophecy.

"However, the trial is not over yet. There is one final trial waiting for you. If you can pass it, then I will offer you my loyalty!

"I must remind you that Kaifumu, who came before you, fell at this final hurdle. Of course, his performance in the first two parts was far inferior to yours."

Being able to send a Sending to the trial-taker during the trial was undoubtedly the work of one of the two Advanced Rank Mages presiding over the trial ritual.

Upon hearing that he might possess an Advanced Rank Mage follower, even Xia Duo's calm and unruffled state of mind could not help but ripple.

One must know that his avatar, "Laier Akalama", was merely an Elite Mage, equivalent to an Advanced Rank Mage among humans, while an Elf Advanced Rank Mage was equivalent to a human Great Arcanist, perhaps with an even higher ceiling.

Even if it were only having an Advanced Rank Mage follower in the Projection Plane, it was truly exciting.

"Could the source of this trial really be the prophecy of Coronal Osons, and not just a gimmick?"

Xia Duo could not help but form such a speculation.